The Vampire Diaries: Damon's Kill
by Lucretia Debrev
Summary: When Damon meets a beautiful girl in a bar, in New Orleans in 1919, he is enchanted by her beauty but never imagined that together they'd be fighting for their lives from a dark and mysterious cult, hell bent on shedding blood. Will they find redemption in this cult by reliving the past life they once had, or will the memories bring them only pain and insanity?


_Ah, New Orleans. 1920. What a place to be…._

_If only I was there and not stuck in Jump City! What hell hole! Oh well, a bar is a bar._

"Hi. You looking for a good time?"

"Not from you."

_Someone's desperate. As soon as I get my car fixed I'm outta here._

"Sir?"

"Hum?"

"You're car's fixed."

"You said it would take an hour."

"It has been an hour."

"Oh, thanks."

"Anytime."

'_Thee little punk better get out of here fast, or he'll be stuck here forever. Like me.' _

_Ha, poor sap. And yes I will be out of here fast. New Orleans here I come!_

"I paid you already."

'_He paid me already.'_

"Ok. You're car's outside."

"Thanks."

"Margaret."

"Damon."

The two shook hands before the song started in Sling's Bar, New Orleans.

"May I have this dance?"

"Yes you may."

_Steam Heat by Patti Page. Perfect. _

"_I got steam heat._

_But I need your love to keep me warm._

_I need your love to keep away cold."_

'_He is handsome.'_

_Yes you are._

'_Whoa- no way…I didn't just hear his voice in my head!'_

_Oops. Must of touched her mind. Forget this ever-_

'_You're a vampire!'_

'_Yes, I am. So are you. Why didn't you tell me?'_

'_Well a girl can't have the whole world knowing she's looking for a meal instead of a good time.'_

'_We could…'_

'_Sure.'_

'_Great. Upstairs we go'_

_Now this takes the term 'getting lucky' to a new level._

"Oh, I love you. Want a drink?" Margret said taking off her pearl necklace.

"I love you more."

_Oh, that feels so alien….so good._

"My turn."

_Oh, her blood is so good. _

_**Pow! Pow! Pow! **_

"What the hell was that?"

"Bullet got my shoulder. I'll be fine. Let's go the bullets are wooden. Let's scram. Didn't like this joint anyway."

The wooden bullets were stuck in the door, only a few made it through the door into the room, like flies to a screen door unable to get through to a freshly baked pie.

"Down the fire escape!"

Margaret cried out in pain.

"Margaret!"

"You ok?"

"Bullet….in my leg…pull it out…"

_It's out, good. But she's bleeding badly and we've got to get out of here. _

_**Pow!**_

_She's out. Dead. Her heart has stopped beating-_

_What happened….where am I? Oh, the bar….I was with…Alice. Alice got shot in the leg, then in head, killing her. I was shot in the shoulder, left, I think. Then I guess I was shot in the back of the head…..Where am I now? A warehouse. Who are all these other people? They've got blood bags…they're vampires. They're vampires. Police ratted us out, but these aren't the police….Oh, no. These are witches._

"Damon?"

_Shush! Margret we need to remain anonymous. We need to get out of here without being spotted or recognized._

_Alright, what do you suggest?_

_Well…..first we need to learn how they operate, how they're keeping us here. Then we got to the other vampires spread the word, then…then we break out of here._

_And how do you propose we do that?_

_We'll think of something. _

_Ok. _

"You, blondie. Come with me."

"Where?"

"Surgery."

"What?"

_Oh no. This is not happening._

"Take me! Take me instead of her…."

"No. You are going to integration."

"Take me in her place, plus….integration."

"No, it may take you to long to heal and people who go into integration have to be completely healthy. Besides women are always sedated in surgery."

_Let me go. I'll be fine, Damon._

_No, you won't. Did you not just here the lunatic say 'surgery'?_

_I'll be fine, she said I'll be sedated._

_And that may just be a lie to keep me from making a scene or it may just be a way of you putting the hangman's noose on quietly without a fight. _

_Damon the only way we'll be able to find a way out of here is if they least expect us try. Please, I'll be alright._

_Fine….I love you._

Damon kissed Margret on the lips, squeezed her hand lovingly, and let the witch take her away. Damon realized his hands were handcuffed and his leg was chained to the wall of the warehouse, just as others were. He could tell they'd once been soaked in vervain but it wasn't noticeable on his hand cuffs or chains.

Damon didn't know why he was so calm. I shouldn't be, he thought to himself. I should be pulling my hair out as to why these people want to torture these vampires...and why their are children involved as well. What if Stefan's here? Don't see him. Thank God.

_Think of a plan while she's away. Think of something... _

Damon found that he was feeling really mellow, he hadn't had that many drinks, so why was he so calm? That changed when he heard a blood curdling scream somewhere in the warehouse. Everyone looked in the direction of the scream.

"What are they _doing _in their?"

"Don't know exactly. Their have been screams like that all night, that is if it's even night time. No way to tell what time it is in here. How'd you end up here?"

"The girl who was with me a minute ago, she and I were upstairs above a bar in New Orleans. Cops showed up, I was shot in the shoulder, she was shot in the leg. I got the bullet in her leg out, but just as we were about to climb down the fire escape, a bullet got her in the neck, then...I guess I was shot in the head...What about you?"

"Well, I was in New York trying to get all the paperwork for my bar all sorted...I left, I was heading home, walking through an alley, got shot in head, next thing I know, I'm here."

_I know I shouldn't do this...but I like this guy. _

"What's your name?"

"I'm Will. Will Grimm. I'm supposed to be related to the brothers Grimm but its a long shot. What's your name?"

"I'm...James. James Clearcut...So what's the name of your bar going to be?"

"I was thinking of calling it 'Billy's' or 'Billys Bar'. Which ounces better?"

"Billy's."

"Thanks. So, James, how old are you?"

_May as well tell him my age. What have I got to lose? Besides, he may be a history geek who's always wanted to know about how 'romantic' the Civil War was. _

"I was turned in 1864."

"Whoa. I was turned then too. At a hospital in Washington. Cambell's Hospital I think."

"No way..."

"What?"

"Will Grimm, I know you."

"You do-"

_You bet I do! _

Damon shared a memory of his seven months at the hospital with Will.

"Damon! How the hell have you been, man?"

"I've been great. Why didn't you recognize me?"

"Why didn't you recognize me?"

"I got haircut..."

"I got a bar."

The two laughed heartily. Whatever the reason they didn't remember seeing each other, it didn't matter now.

"So why'd you say your name was James Clearcut. I mean it's a cool name...for a serial killer. Why the mask?"

"You never can be too careful these days, you know? Besides, can't have anyone know me right now, I've been trailing my brother to...make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"My brother isn't exactly in his right mind. Since my brother...turned, he became ripper, and he's turned his humanity off, so I've got no choice but to stick to him like glue and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Who was the blond you were talking to earlier?"

"My date."

"Where'd she go?"

"Surgery?"

"Yes. They said they're going to sedate her..."

"You say it as if all this is rational...We've all been kidnapped, and most of us are being tortured and you talk as if we're doctor's office."

"If I don't I will lose my head and you know what happens when I lose my head. I have to put on this-this air of not caring. It helps when you're trying to interrogate someone but it's hard to shake sometimes. I guess I got it from Giuseppe."

"I see what you mean. What do they want with us anyways, it's not like we're their experiments..."

"Maybe we are. Interrogation, surgery, you could say it's all one big way of torturing us, but maybe to these people it _is_ experimenting."

"Will then in that case we've got to get out of here. All of us. I hear they're bringing in children to turn."

"Alright. But first we've got to analyze them. find out why they're doing this and how to form a battle strategy to get out of here. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Sir?"

Damon looked over his shoulder.

"You need to come into Interrogation now."

"What's Interrogation?"

"Interrogation is where we analyze your emotions and abilities to feel when you were human vs when you became a vampire."

"Why?"

"As I've just explained. We're analyzing your ability to feel."

"Feel? Feel _what_?"

"Emotions. Happiness, sadness, compassion, anger, lust, emotions."

"Of course I have emotions! I'm still human except for..." Damon's face fell. He realized in despair that the witch was serious and believed him to be a monster until proven otherwise. Damon looked away with a certain shame. He liked being in control of a situation, and in this case their was no way of controlling what he was: a vampire. Damon never wanted to be vampire but his brother had pressured him into becoming one, and for decades he felt disgusted with himself and he only fed when he had to. Now...now he fed for the fun of it, the only difference between him and his brother was that for some odd reason, he _couldn't_ lose all control of his bloodlust like his brother could. Even if he wanted to, and one of his darkest secrets was he did.

"I don't want to."

"You have to it's part of protocol."

"Listen I'm not going with you anywh-" Damon's head felt like a fiery pain of ringing had just taken him by storm.

"You _will_ come with me."

"Fine...just stop please..."

Damon walked down a dark hallway into a dimly lit room. The room reminded him of an interrogation room in a police department, _Hence the use of 'Interrogation'. _

The witch sat Damon down at a chair and she sat across from him. Then two warlocks appeared behind Damon. One held Damon down, while the other nailed one nail in each hand to table. Then the warlock who held Damon down slammed his head down on the table. Damon groaned in pain and tried hold back threats the vilest words known to man as a new witch entered the room. The warlock whispered something in a tongue and left the room. To Damon's annoyance he couldn't lift his head up off the table.

The pain in Damon's hands made him want to scream, but he held his tongue. _I won't let them have the satisfaction of knowing...I'm about to explode. I've got to keep my cool. I've got to remain calm. I've go to..._

"Do you know why you're here Mr?"

"Clearcut...James Clearcut." Damon breathed slowly.

"Do you know why you're here ?"

"No."

"You are here to be investigated and decided whether are not you are a worthy specimen of...of your kind to live and continue living or whether or not you, along with others should be eradicated."

"Why do you want us to be inspected? Eradicated...to what purpose?"

"Your kind is filth. You must be eradicated. You are evil, it is in your design. But there are those who may be savalgable. Those of your kind who still, oddly enough, display human emotions. If you are one of those few, then you will need to be broken, and then preserved."

"Preserved? Preserved for what?"

"We are going to eradicate all of your kind. All that are not preserved."

A chill ran down Damon's spine.

"Let's get started. We'll start by breaking your will to fight me, then we'll analyze your reaction to memories of your past life as a human. This will take a while, but I'll make it as painless as law allows me."

Damon couldn't believe what was happening. He relived every pain filled memory he had as a human. Everything from the bullets he took in 1864 to the whipping he took from his father seven months later.

"Interesting. In the past year I've studied you, James, you've displayed human weaknesses...like those of the World War I veterans, I'd of thought once you became a vampire they would've left you. You seem to have she'll shock...where you in the war?"

By this time, Damon and the witch who had been studying him almost had a an understanding. Damon treated her with uncaring contempt on occasion but over time the two where almost friends. Damon realized he which didn't like torturing people and that she was tied to the work she was doing, so Damon quickly became used to the of blood would be fed to him at the end of every week to keep him alive and every day the witch would study his emotions and his past.

"Yes, Tialia. Both. I was diagnosed with shell shock in 1864."

Someone knocked on the door.

"Tialia Bennet? I'm sorry to report but you have become too attached to this specimen to continue your work and you are unclean and must eradicated."

Tialia tensed up, but remained calm.

"Alright. May I have a moment with the patient to explain to it what's going on."

"Yes, make it brief."

"I'm sorry. It seems I'm unable to get you and your friends out."

"It's fine."

Tialia kissed Damon. Damon quickly but his wrist and fed her his blood.

"No..."

"Quiet. I'm not about to let you die. Go. I'll be fine-"

"No you wont. My replacement will break you, and kill you, Damon."

"I don't care what your replacement has up their sleeve."

"I'm sorry for what I've done to you..."

"I've been through worse."

"Your time is up."

A guard walked in with a gun and shot Tialia in the head. Damon looked away. Her eyes were still open...

Damon's replace to where a man and a woman. Unlike Tialia who had eventually let Damon wear handcuffs instead of the nails in his hands, the two replacements soaked the nails in vervain along with other tools used to torture him. The woman used her psychic powers to hurt Damon, as the man broke Damon's bones and used the tools against Damon in ways he never thought possible. Furthermore blood was denied him for longer and longer periods of time.

Damon slowly but surely felt himself begin to slip away. Unlike Tialia who made him experience the memories of his pain, the two made him feel the literal pain of his experiences, all of them.

"What's a matter? Giving in?"

Damon didn't say anything. _These two are sadistic, positively insane. There's no way I will ever be able to get out of here, and it hurts. It hurts so much, I just want the pain to be gone, oh please dear God, take the pain away or at least let me turn it off. _

Damon faltered and had a brief moment of panic. What if he never got out? What if these people never stopped torturing him and his friends? What if he couldn't keep it together, but at the same time couldn't switch his humanity off when he had nowhere else to turn? Damon knew he was on the verge or snapping, and he didn't know what he'd do once he did.

"We brought in a little _snack_ for you. Hope you like it."

Damon cringed. From what he'd heard about the 'snacks' the witches brought in, they were humans, that once bitten, had to be killed because they were no longer pure.

The warlock forced Damon's head against the table and whispered, "If you even try to escape, we'll kill the girl." Damon didn't know if he meant Margaret. He slowly lifted his head off the table, dazed and apprehensive.

"Hello? Please help me."

Damon gasped. _No. I won't sink so low. They'll have to kill me before I so much as touch her. _

"Can help me get out of here, sir? Please, all I want to do is go home! Please, I want my Mommy and Daddy!"

"It's ok. You'll see you're Mommy and Daddy soon." Damon was horrified.

"We're getting out of here." Damon said finally. he fed the girl his blood, just to be safe. If Margaret wanted a rebellion this was the time to put it in motion.

"Can you...can you get these nails out of my hands?"

"I can try."

"What's your name?"

"My name's Anna Cobel."

"Anna, how old are you?"

"I'm seven. What's your name?"

"I'm...Damon. Damon Salvatore."

"Hello, Damon it's nice to meet you. Can you take me to my Mommy and Daddy?"

"I can certainly try. Where did you last see them?"

At my house."

"Where do you live?"

"I can't remember..."

"Alright, that's fine, we'll figure something out...somehow."

Damon ran out the door and into the hall, down a flight of stairs, until he found what appeared to be the basement. He climbed out, Anna over his shoulder. He took her to police station. He compelled the guard not to remember him. The girl's parent's where at the police station already and greeted Anna and thanked Damon, who he also compelled to forget him. Then he went back to the warehouse.

Everything was in order. As it should've been. Tialia had passed along notes to Will and Margaret. Will was to get all the children and human victims out. Then Margaret and Damon, and any other vampire who wanted to avenge relatives or friends lost to the sadistic witches who'd kept them prisoners for so long, could too.

Damon put a knife to a witch's throat.

"Nobody move or I kill the witch!" Everyone looked at Damon. Damon looked at Will who gave everyone the signal.

"Now!" Will cried. Damon broke the witch's neck and other vampires broke free and went after the guards. Will pinned a witch against the wall.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Will Marks...and you're coming with me."

_What are you doing. _

'_We need to find exactly why they're doing this and who put them up to it right?' _

_Yeah but..._

'_You and Margaret can handle this can't you? Besides I could stand a little fun.' _

_Fine. Where'd everybody go? _

'_Freedom was calling I suppose.' _

_I'll see you around then. _

'_Of course old friend.' _

'_Goodbye, then.' _

_Goodbye. _

Damon and Margaret looked at each other.

"Do you think you stand a chance against 29 witches?"

"Do _you_ think you stand a chance against two hungry, pissed off, vampires?" Damon smiled ruthlessly. Maybe he was a ripper after all. He was dying to make these witches feel his pain. But he knew that that was what separated him from the ripper, the need or want for someone to feel your pain, a true ripper didn't care whether or not their victim felt empathy or any other feeling for them. They didn't care about anything. And that was Damon's problem, he cared too much. But not this time...

"Who are you, to say you could kill us anyway?"

"Well, I'm James Clearcut, and this is my wife, Alice Clearcut. And you've kept us, a little over year from our century long honeymoon. We are going to be very clear about how we're going to kill you. And do you want to know a little secret of ours?"

Damon paused and looked at Margaret.

_What do you say 'Alice', want to be my partner in crime? We could be the most infamous serial killers in United States? _

'_It would be an honor, James. To death do us part?' _

_Yes... _

Damon found a way to revel in his new found identity in ways he never thought possible. He reveled in ripping their heads off and making them shake with fear over his power.

Damon and Margaret set off to find Stefan. When they did, they found his new friends as well.

_Originals? If the other witches know they're out there, if they find them...they'll never let them go. _

'_I agree. So what's the plan?' _

_We get close to them. Become as ruthless as they are, all the while keeping my brother in check. Agreed? _

'_Yes. They'll have to bite me or you to get antitoxin into their bloodstream for good though. How will that come about?' _

_No idea...Thank you, again. I know you don't have to do this for me. Thank you for the cloaking charm and all of it. I couldn't have done this without you. _

'_I want to. You didn't have to come back after you dropped that girl off at the police station but you did.' _

_Thanks... _

"Mind if we join you for a drink?"

"Why not?" Damon stared into the face of his brother who was wearing a presumptuous smile. Damon returned the smile.

"And just who might you be?" An Englishman asked Damon. Damon noticed the man's eyes were an icy blue and he kept Damon's stare.

"I'm James and this is my wife Alice Clearcut."

"_Clearcut?"_

"Yes." Alice answered. "Who are you?"

"I'm Klaus and this is my sister Rebecca and this our friend Mr. Stefan Salvatore."

"Pleasure."

"Stefan would go with the bar with me to get another drink from Gloria?"

"Sure."

Damon watched them go to the bar.

"I don't like him very much."

"Oh Stefan, be nice. He seems fun. Besides I'm hungry."

"Fine. Let's take him out back."

"Ok."

Stefan and Rebecca returned to the table.

"Why don't you step outside with us for a minute Mr. Cle-"

"Call me James."

Damon got up and walked outside. Alice had Klaus right where she wanted him.

Damon got a cigarette out of his pocket and Stefan light it for him.

"Thanks." he murmured.

"You are going to remain perfectly still." Stefan whispered.

_Oh this will be hilarious. _

Before Stefan could bare his fangs Damon had his neck in a fatal position where all he had to do was twist it and he'd be dead.

"I'm a vampire you idiot. And besides you never kill in the open. Not like that anyway."

"Who the hell are you?" Rebecca said.

Damon pinned Rebecca to the wall with Stefan.

"I'm one of the serial killers you'll never know the name of. Rebecca was it?"

Damon broke his brother's neck and moved toward her.

"Yes." She whispered. _Stop acting so frail when I know you're not. _

"You said you were thirsty...so bite me."

Damon saw a brief moment of real fear in her eyes. Rebecca bite him and began to kiss him. He lead her to the back of the bar and up the stairs. _Good. Everything is going according to plan. She gets enough of the potion in her body and no witch will be able to touch her except Alice. Good thing I put that drug in Stefan's drink, he won't remember a thing. _

"So it worked. All three of them are protected?"

"Yes. It's been a fun ride, Damon and I've enjoyed this past year of drinks and...freedom, to make for the years we lost but-"

"It's about time we go our separate ways, I understand, but if you don't find anyone, and I don't find anyone..."

"Yes..."

"Really?"

"Yes." Margaret kissed Damon and took her things and went on to the boat headed for England. The year was 1923. The plan to keep the Original brother and sister known as Klaus and Rebecca, and Damon's brother safe had failed when Klaus staked his sister and snapped Stefan's neck in order to escape their ruthless father Michael Michaelson. After that their was nothing Damon and Margaret could do to keep them safe from the same cult of witches who tortured them, what they did accomplish however was bringing Stefan back, increasing his chances for turning his humanity back on. Over the year, the five of them had become good friends.

Looking back on the year 1922, Damon had almost wished he'd told his brother that he'd posed as his ruthless, bloodthirsty, friend all those years ago. And when he found out about the child Haley was having thanks to Klaus, he felt all the more guilty for keeping secrets. As for Rebecca...she didn't have to know he'd actually slept with her three times and not two. He took swig of bourbon before going to bed. The next day was going to take all the willpower he had to torture Elena. It was going to take all that he knew about pain and how to inflict it in the right way to get Elena to give in. It was going to take Damon using the three years in the twenties against Elena. damon was risking one of his darkest secrets of how he became so cold and hard up to the point of meeting Elena. Damon looked at a picture of Margaret and himself before they adopted their ripper identities. He looked on the back of the photo. In Margaret's handwriting where a few lines from a poem by Lewis Carroll.

_**He saw her once, and in the glance, **_

_**A moment's glance of meeting eyes, **_

_**His heart stood still in sudden trance, **_

_**He trembled with a sweet surprise- **_

_**As one that caught through opening skies **_

_**A distant gleam of Paradise. **_


End file.
